Ok, so far this week, One investment bank has gone bust, another one thinks it will go bust so puts itself up for sale. And the biggest insurance company in the world, with about 125,000 employees, has ‘a day’ to save itslef.
Despite this, the real economy (in the US) outside financial markets has showed signs of improvment in the last couple of months. But how long will this last?
Don’t forget the Dow dropping 500 points.
Yeah, but you think Barack Osama is going to be able to fix it for you?!?! Idiot.
Sorry, my disdain grows by the hour.
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| Originally Posted by Doc Happenin View Post Yeah, but you think Barack Osama is going to be able to fix it for you?!?! Idiot. Sorry, my disdain grows by the hour. |
High Five for originality. Also the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And by that I mean the American workers or something.
…as long as the average American has a bag of Cheetos resting on its belly and ‘America’s Got Talent’ on the tube, I don’t predict much change.
I know a lot of people who aren’t concerned about any of this and claim the economy will be “better for it” which is disturbing.
I’ve got an email into someone I know that works at AIG here in town (works pretty high up in New Business Developments or some such) because I’m worried about him and I haven’t gottten a response back yet…which is scary. The scuttlebutt here in Nashville (which has a 15 billion a year Financial Services industry) is like it’s the fall of Rome.
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| Originally Posted by Bancroft Agee View Post I know a lot of people who aren’t concerned about any of this and claim the economy will be “better for it” which is disturbing. I’ve got an email into someone I know that works at AIG here in town (works pretty high up in New Business Developments or some such) because I’m worried about him and I haven’t gotten a response back yet…which is scary. The scuttlebutt here in Nashville (which has a 15 billion a year Financial Services industry) is like it’s the fall of Rome. |
Maybe. Or maybe it’s end of the howling jackasses who made a living shuffling crap. Yes they made a ton of dough, but they also Created a house of cards that’s now collapsing. This is just like the Internet Bubble. Except this time the assholes behind it are getting caught.
It’s instructive that the Fed refused to rescue Lehman while saving Bear (sort of) and Freddie and Fannie. Of course in the case of the later two they pretty much had to if the US Gov’t was to retain credibility. If effect Lehman is sending a message that yes the US will pull out the stops to maintain stability in the financial markets but no, there will not be free passes issued to investment bankers who made pathalogically bad decisions.
Lehman’s was in debt 615 Billion dollars. The Fed wasn’t going to bail them out because they couldn’t. No one could.
I’m a little worried about the AIG bailout the Fed just made, if they weren’t willing to show their balance sheet to Buffet, (that isn’t good)… I doubt the Fed got a look at it and we just sunk 85 Billion into them. The plus side is, my ROP Term Life insurance policy with AIG may yet survive this whole ordeal.
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| Originally Posted by Snaieke View Post Lehman’s was in debt 615 Billion dollars. The Fed wasn’t going to bail them out because they couldn’t. No one could. I’m a little worried about the AIG bailout the Fed just made, if they weren’t willing to show their balance sheet to Buffet, (that isn’t good)… I doubt the Fed got a look at it and we just sunk 85 Billion into them. The plus side is, my ROP Term Life insurance policy with AIG may yet survive this whole ordeal. |
I’d be curious to see the terms the Fed laid down for that bailout. I hope it involves AIG execs getting fucked up the ass by AIDs infested Baboons
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| Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post I’d be curious to see the terms the Fed laid down for that bailout. I hope it involves AIG execs getting fucked up the ass by AIDs infested Baboons |
I wouldn’t count on it. The inverse law of Republican economics is that those who cynically torch the zeppelin are the ones that get the golden parachutes.
The gov’t now has an 80% stake in AIG. So they’ve nationalised it, just about. They couldn’t let it fail.
You know, for a party that rails against socialism it seems that the GOP is really starting to bury their claws into our financial sector.
The past few years have been so full of irony, to the point of overload.
Maybe we should give irony a rest. I’m afraid we’ll wear it out.
9/11 killed irony.. it is a thing of the past.
Don´t worry too much. We got very clever people working at our public banks for sure:
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| FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- The German government Wednesday called a EUR300 million payment by KfW Bankengruppe made to insolvent U.S. bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) after the latter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. “questionable” and “irritating,” and called for an explanation of the transaction. KfW confirmed Wednesday a report by German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine earlier in the day that the bank had completed a EUR300 million payment to Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy Monday. |
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| Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post I’d be curious to see the terms the Fed laid down for that bailout. I hope it involves AIG execs getting fucked up the ass by AIDs infested Baboons |
I have to say, from a taxpayer standpoint… the terms are acceptable.
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| Here is the full text of the Federal Reserve’s statement on Tuesday announcing an 85 billion dollar rescue loan for insurance giant American International Group, an unprecedented move designed to save the firm from bankruptcy amid fears of a meltdown on financial markets. "The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday, with the full support of the Treasury Department, authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to lend up to 85 billion dollars to the American International Group (AIG) under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. The secured loan has terms and conditions designed to protect the interests of the U.S. government and taxpayers. "The Board determined that, in current circumstances, a disorderly failure of AIG could add to already significant levels of financial market fragility and lead to substantially higher borrowing costs, reduced household wealth and materially weaker economic performance. "The purpose of this liquidity facility is to assist AIG in meeting its obligations as they come due. This loan will facilitate a process under which AIG will sell certain of its businesses in an orderly manner, with the least possible disruption to the overall economy. "The AIG facility has a 24-month term. Interest will accrue on the outstanding balance at a rate of three-month Libor plus 850 basis points. AIG will be permitted to draw up to 85 billion dollars under the facility. "The interests of taxpayers are protected by key terms of the loan. The loan is collateralized by all the assets of AIG, and of its primary non-regulated subsidiaries. These assets include the stock of substantially all of the regulated subsidiaries. The loan is expected to be repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the firm’s assets. The US government will receive a 79.9 percent equity interest in AIG and has the right to veto the payment of dividends to common and preferred shareholders. |
8.5% above Libor! I’d take that.
But…the market is now worried about Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
And most worryingly, the Fed has run out of money. Great.
It seems to me that this is akin to the little boy trying to plug holes in the dyke with his fingers.
Eventually you run out of fingers, the holes widen and the water comes rushing in-destroying everything in its path.
Exactly.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8058d308-8...0779fd18c.html
"The panic in world credit markets reached historic intensity on Wednesday prompting a flight to safety of the kind not seen since the second world war.
Barometers of financial stress hit record peaks across the world. Yields on short-term US Treasuries hit their lowest level since the London Blitz. Lending between banks in effect halted and investors scrambled to pull their funding from any institution or sector whose future had been called into doubt."
When is somebody going to lay this disaster at the Republicans’ feet, where it belongs? If the situation were reversed, and Democrats had stripped the regulatory laws resulting in a global financial meltdown, Republican mouthpieces would be screaming it from the rooftops. It would be the end of any kind of Democratic party power for a long, long time.